A train station somewhere in Gangwon Province, in a heavy snowfall.
Bundled up in black coats and scarves over their suits, the group stood frozen stiff.
"This snow is crazy."
"...Will we even be able to catch a train back?"
"Who knows..."
"Before that, with this much snow, shouldn't we be worried about even getting into the base?"
Unprecedented snow had fallen on Gangwon Province.
Thanks to it, the group's worries were piling up like the snow.
"Anyway, they should be showing up soon."
"Right? Didn't they say they'd be here about now?"
The unit they'd contacted had clearly said they'd send a car to pick them up.
But long after the appointed time, the car still hadn't appeared.
"Well, with snow like this, isn't it only natural they're late?"
"True enough. And more than anything, these guys are the military, after all. There's no way they'd do anything right."
Jae-hwan found himself nodding at Chang-ho's words.
But at the same time, a question popped into Jae-hwan's head.
"I'm asking because I don't really know, but when something like this happens, don't they usually handle it internally first? What's it called? The Defense Security Command or something..."
"Usually, yes. But this time, I guess they couldn't bury it even by bringing in the Defense Security Command. An NCO dying in the military isn't common."
While they passed the time chatting about this and that.
A vehicle finally arrived at the station.
"Sorry for the delay."
The young officer said it with a look that wasn't the least bit sorry.
"He already looks pretty sour, doesn't he?"
"Yeah. One look and you can tell we're not exactly welcome."
"When you think about it, this is kind of like civilian surveillance."
The moment they saw the officer, Jae-hwan and Ji-yeon started gossiping about him up a storm.
"Ah, it's fine. Let's get going."
Letting their remarks go in one ear and out the other, Chang-ho continued talking with the officer.
"By the way, what exactly brings you here? It's something we in the military can handle perfectly well internally..."
"Ah, well, don't worry. It's all just a formality."
Squeezed into the back seat, Chang-ho tried to reassure the officer in a casual tone.
But suspicion still lingered in the escort officer's eyes.
"Let's just go. If we keep this up here, I think the snow will leave us stuck, unable to go anywhere."
Chang-ho tried hard to change the subject.
The officer nodded heavily.
A heavy silence settled inside the cramped car.
The military unit didn't welcome them one bit.
***
An eternity of enduring an atmosphere of awkwardness mixed with tension.
The group finally made it to their destination, the military unit.
But when they reached the scene, they couldn't help being disappointed.
"There's nothing here."
"Right. Everything's already been cleaned up."
The first casualty, an enlisted soldier, had been found at the firing range.
But they couldn't find any information there.
The firing range was perfectly tidied, as if it had just been built.
"Thank you for now. We'll need to look around on our own from here."
At Ji-yeon's words, the officer nodded and left.
After watching the officer leave, Jae-hwan asked Chang-ho a question.
"How did they say the body was found?"
"They said it was just lying sprawled in the firing lane over there?"
Where Chang-ho pointed was a neatly kept firing lane.
"It's way too clean."
"Tell me about it. They're dead serious about destroying evidence."
"It's more than that. Look at these sandbags."
Ji-yeon called the others over.
"They're brand new."
"Yes. At this point, it's not just a matter of cleaning up again. They must have torn the whole thing up and redone it."
Chang-ho heaved a deep sigh.
"I knew it. Not a damn bit of cooperation. These guys only care about hiding things."
"When has the military ever not been like that?"
After a brief silence, Jae-hwan asked the others.
"But here and now... do you see any trace of an aberration?"
"Not at all. They tore up everything like their lives depended on it..."
Apparently Jae-hwan wasn't the only one at a loss.
"Honestly, there's not a damn trace of an aberration, is there? Maybe it's just an unexplained death?"
"Could be."
Chang-ho, too, went on without any certainty.
"Then let's head to the next scene for now."
"Yeah. That one might be a bit different."
Chang-ho nodded and called the escort officer.
At that moment.
"...?"
Jae-hwan looked around, struck by a strange feeling.
"What's wrong?"
"No... it's just."
A strange sensation he couldn't put into words.
He could feel someone's gaze.
"What are you doing? Let's go. Is something wrong?"
Unaware of what was going on inside him, Ji-yeon hurried him along.
"No, nothing."
'No way. It can't be.'
Forcibly burying the nagging what-if.
Jae-hwan moved his heavy, reluctant feet.
***
The second place they arrived at was the vehicle maintenance shop.
"It's no different, is it?"
"They really aren't cooperating..."
The maintenance shop, too, had been cleaned up to the point of being torn apart and redone.
The bay where the body had reportedly been found was tidied with especially painstaking care.
Just as the group was starting to get annoyed.
"Hey!"
Chang-ho, who had disappeared somewhere, suddenly called out to them.
They looked around, but Chang-ho was nowhere to be seen.
"Where are you?"
"Down here, you guys."
At some point, Chang-ho had crawled under a vehicle.
"Why are you down there...?"
"Back in my day, I was a transport soldier. So I took a look under here."
Finished speaking, Chang-ho grinned and crawled out from under the vehicle.
"Back in the day, I used to hide down there to dodge the company sergeant's eyes. Guess all those years of army chow don't go anywhere."
"Whoa, crazy!"
Jae-hwan swore before he knew it.
"Kid, that's just how it goes at the end of your service. You must've been the same."
"I was an admin clerk, so I got run ragged even more."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Never mind that, did you actually find something?"
Unable to stand the chitchat, Ji-yeon put the question to Chang-ho.
"Ah, right. I did. There's a bloodstain under the vehicle."
At those words from Chang-ho, the group looked at one another.
"A bloodstain under the vehicle... that's a dead giveaway."
"Makes sense. Under a vehicle, even soldiers wouldn't have thought to clean it."
Jae-hwan and Ji-yeon felt relieved to have finally found evidence.
But after a moment, the group found themselves facing another problem.
"But then how do we lure the aberration out? I get that there's an aberration, but we don't know its cause or what it is."
"Exactly. There's no way to draw the thing out. And we can't stay in this prison of a base for a hundred days, a thousand days."
Chang-ho thought it over for a moment, then spoke heartily.
"What's the big deal? Let's go at it head-on."
"What?"
As Chang-ho strode off without a second thought, Jae-hwan and Ji-yeon followed, clueless.
"Um, Team Leader, where are you going?"
"I don't know what it is, but I've got a bad feeling..."
"Ah, it's nothing. I just want to argue a few points."
Chang-ho smiled at them and answered breezily.
"Let's get straight to the point. We're going right to the battalion commander's office."
***
"No, like I said, on this point you need to cooperate with us..."
"Young man, you don't seem to understand. I said no."
Nothing but a pointless back-and-forth went on in the battalion commander's office.
On behalf of the group, Chang-ho demanded that the battalion commander hand over all the material on the dead.
But sure enough.
The battalion commander desperately refused to cooperate.
"That's why I said we shouldn't come..."
"Hang on a sec. It's not like we had any better ideas."
Ji-yeon grumbled quietly, but Chang-ho paid no attention and kept trying to persuade him.
"Look, you really must cooperate on this. Isn't that how the case gets solved quickly and the army gets back to normal?"
"Heh heh... I keep telling you, that would be leaking classified information, wouldn't it?"
The conversation went on, but nothing was resolved.
Listening to it, Jae-hwan was gradually reaching the limit of his patience.
In the end, Chang-ho gritted his teeth and gave the battalion commander an ultimatum.
"If you keep this up, we'll have no choice but to forcibly turn this whole place upside down."
But the battalion commander brushed off that ultimatum too.
"Go ahead. It's something we can settle internally like always anyway. Why you're getting so worked up, I just don't know..."
'Like always...?'
At that moment, Jae-hwan's patience snapped.
"'Like always' means this isn't the first time, then?"
Holding back his anger, Jae-hwan rebuked the battalion commander.
"Hm?"
"What, aren't I right? It's a closed environment anyway, so I bet all you think is that you can just bury everything."
Flaring up, the battalion commander rose from his seat and began bellowing at the top of his lungs.
"A bastard who doesn't even know the first thing about it, where do you get off spouting nonsense?! The military has its own natural order! In here, you follow it!"
Seeing that display, Jae-hwan didn't stop sneering.
"Ah, because if you don't follow it, you won't get promoted?"
"Why, you bastard...! Throw these bastards out right now! Right now!"
Red-faced, the battalion commander ordered his subordinates to throw the group out.
But no one came in.
"......?"
At this unexpected turn, not only the battalion commander but the group too looked puzzled.
"...What are you doing?! Get in here now!"
Enraged, the battalion commander sprang from his seat and rushed out.
Just as he was about to throw the door open, he froze in place and didn't budge.
Blood was seeping in under the door.
"Hey...! Something's out there!"
Jae-hwan and Ji-yeon swallowed hard and began preparing for a fight.
Chang-ho quietly called to the battalion commander.
"It's dangerous. Come over here."
But the battalion commander didn't move.
To be exact, he stood there trembling, as if possessed by something.
"Hey?"
In the tense air, Chang-ho reluctantly put a hand on the battalion commander's shoulder.
At that moment.
The battalion commander's eyes rolled back, and he began weeping tears of blood.
Blood overflowing from his eyes and nose, ears and mouth.
At the same time, the battalion commander began foaming at the mouth and staggering.
"Wait...!"
Flustered, Chang-ho grabbed hold of the battalion commander.
"Hey! Pull yourself together!"
But Chang-ho's words didn't reach the battalion commander.
After convulsing for a moment, the battalion commander collapsed, his neck bending at an unnatural angle.
TL Notes:
TL Note: Defense Security Command - the South Korean military's own internal security and counterintelligence command.